


Judgement

by SolarMorrigan



Series: Those 100 [14]
Category: The Real Ghostbusters
Genre: I don't know, M/M, Religion, allusions to homophobia, stereotyping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-18
Updated: 2014-12-18
Packaged: 2018-03-02 03:13:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2797493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolarMorrigan/pseuds/SolarMorrigan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“So, Zed…” Peter said abruptly as he rounded the couch and flopped down next to the older man, “You like God, right?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Judgement

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a little nervous about this one, too. I tried really hard to make it all in-character and also non-offensive? I don't know
> 
> Also, I realize in this one Peter speaks of his mother in the present tense, while in an earlier story, he was visiting her grave. Peter's mother is probably going to fluctuate between being dead and alive. In the series, sometimes Peter talks about her as though she is alive, and sometimes he speaks of her as though she is dead. So I'm just gonna roll with whatever suits the story at the time, since none of these are connected, anyway

“So, Zed…” Peter said abruptly as he rounded the couch and flopped down next to the older man, “You like God, right?”

“What?” Winston raised an eyebrow in confusion, shutting the mystery novel he was currently burning his way through.

“Y’know, read the Bible; father, son, and the holy ghost; Jesus loves you and all that.” The psychologist waved his hand in a physical expression of ‘et cetera.’

The look on Winston’s face must have articulated how unimpressed he was with Peter’s phrasing, because before Winston could even open his mouth to respond, Peter was holding out his hands placatingly.  “Sorry, I don’t mean any offense, I just… what I mean to ask is, you’re religious, right?”

“Yeah…” Winston drew the word out, willing the other man to explain where he was going with this.

Peter paused, looking Winston over with the most searching, discerning look he could remember being on the receiving end of since he had started with the Ghostbusters over a year ago.  “And you know about me and Egon.” Peter said finally, more serious this time.

Ah.  It was time for _that_ conversation, apparently.  Winston sat forward with deliberate calm to place his book on the coffee table, then looked back to his teammate.  “Yeah, Pete, I know.” He nodded.

Winston considered himself to have a very good sense of people, but it had taken him longer than he would have liked to admit to pick up on the relationship between two of the founding members of the crazy company he now found himself employed with.  Granted, the first few weeks on the job he hadn’t been able to do much more than get acquainted with the guys, things were so busy.  After the Gozer incident, business had calmed down, but their lives had not.  In the following months, they’d rebuilt the firehouse and rebuilt their name and Winston had finally gotten himself situated in the life of ghostbusting, coming to terms with the facets of the truly bizarre profession and its truly bizarre proprietors.

He had seen the extreme closeness between all three of the men he now worked with and chalked Peter’s and Egon’s actions towards each other as a deeply-set friendship.  By the six month mark, however, he began to wonder if the discrete touches and wordless glances they shared meant something… else.  Not one to jump to conclusions, Winston’s suspicions had only been confirmed some three months ago when he’d walked in on them in the lab, so caught up in a kiss that they hadn’t even noticed him come and go.

Unsure of what to do with the information that was obviously supposed to be private, Winston had filed it away under the heading of “None Of My Business” and left it there.  Until now, that was.  “How long have you had us figured?” Peter asked, his casual tone belied by the stiffness of his posture.

“A few months.” Winston shrugged.

“Huh,” Peter cocked his head, “Thought you had it before then… like maybe half a year ago.”

Winston shook his head in amusement.  Peter had better observational skills than he let on, that was for sure.  “I had an idea.  Wasn’t sure until I, uh, had some evidence.”

“Ah, geez,” Peter groaned, slapping a hand over his eyes, “I _knew_ that was a bad idea.  I _told_ Spengs you guys would be back from the store in less than an hour, but noo…”

“What?  No, no, not- No.” Winston shook his head vigorously, waving his hand at Peter to shut the younger man up, “I just- I mean, you were in the lab.  You were just… kissing, is all.”

“Oh.” The brunet grinned, “Well, at least we didn’t scar you too badly, I guess.”

Winston raised a dubious eyebrow at the man and was ignored in favor of continued dialogue.  “The reason I ask about the religious thing, though, is…”

“Yeah, I get it.” Winston cut him off, scrutinizing Peter, “You ever read the Bible, Pete?”

“Nah, not really.” Peter shrugged, “Dad’s not exactly a God-fearing man and Mom… well, she’s Christian, but it’s not like we really had a lot of time to go to church when I was a kid.  Never got the whole religion thing, honestly.”

He paused for a moment, then continued more seriously.  “What I do know?  When I was younger and I was too stupid to be more careful, I had a lot of bad words thrown at me in the name of the good book.  A whole lot of people are ready to tear you down if they think they have God behind them.  What I want to figure out,” Peter leveled Winston with a carefully neutral look, “Is what I can expect from you.”

Winston sighed, running a hand over his face and leaning back against the couch before he glanced over at Peter.  “Y’know, the Bible doesn’t actually say too much about homosexuality.  A lot of the stuff people use as evidence against it is actually about something else.  They don’t pay close enough attention.  One thing I know for sure, though, is that Jesus told us to treat each other right.  Spread love, not hate.” He paused, gathering his thoughts, “Look, Pete, it’s not my place to pass judgment.  I don’t know what’s going to happen after we all bite the big one… hopefully years and years from now.  But right now, I can’t tell you you’re right or wrong.”

“If it was your place, though?  Just hypothetically speaking, of course, what would you say?” Peter asked, still deliberately nonchalant.

Winston regarded the man beside him with a frown, realizing suddenly that he was being gauged as a threat.  Peter, all the guys, trusted him in the field, and that was fine.  That wasn’t going away.  But the fire hall was their home and what Peter wanted to know was not if he could trust Winston with his life, but with his secrets.  If he and Egon could be fully comfortable in this place where they should be able to find solace from the outside world.  Finally, Winston found his reply.  “Honestly?  We do a lot of good for the world.  We save people.  Hell, we kind of fight evil,” He let out a short huff of laughter, “I think that outweighs a lot of stuff.  If you two are in love, I can’t really see anything wrong with that.  Spread love, not hate.”

Peter regarded him for a moment more, before breaking into a grin.  “Great.  Keep that in mind if I ever need to bum cash off you for an anniversary present.”

Winston rolled his eyes.  “Good luck with that, man.  You still owe me five bucks from that little wager we made last month.”

“Oh, come on, that was a completely unfair bet!  There was no way Ecto should’ve fit through that alley!” Peter denied.

“Well, maybe that’ll teach you to underestimate me and my girl.” Winston chuckled, reaching for his novel once more.

Peter paused.  “Nah, don’t think I’ll underestimate you again, Zed.”

Winston had the warm impression Peter was referring to more than just his driving skills.


End file.
